Two faculty members, Marcia Bjornerud (geology) and Ernestine Whitman (flute), have been promoted to the rank of full professor by the Board of Trustees.In addition, Michael Kim (piano), Kathryn Kueny (religious studies), Rebecca Epstein Matveyev (Russian), Anthony Padilla (piano), and Lifongo Vetinde (French) have been promoted to the rank of associate professor and granted tenured appointments.
Bjornerud, a geologist specializing in tectonics and structural geology, was a 2000 recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Program grant to conduct field research in Norway on the role fluids play in fault zones at different crustal levels.
She is the author of the book Guide to the Blue Planet and also contributed an essay to the book The Earth Around Us, which was published in March, 2000.
Both Bjonerrud and Whitman attended the University of Wisconsin, where each earned a Ph.D.
Whitman spent seven years as a flutist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra before joining the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in 1978. During her career, she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center as well as throughout Austria and Hungary. She is currently principal flute with the Pamiro Opera Company in Green Bay.